I chose my daughter, a nine year old third grader for this assignment. She was very excited about assisting with me my studies. In fact, she had begged me to watch her “Google.” She had brought home a persuasive paper from school some time ago regarding why students shouldn’t eat school lunch. So, with that in mind, I shaped my question around that subject. She had not researched the topic previously, only gave her opinion. I thought with the opinion that she already had formed, she would be more apt to search with some basic ideas. So, the search began:
My question was: How would you find information about how unhealthy your school lunches really are?
Student already knew: She already knew that school lunches were fatty, greasy, disgusting, and there is no effort into making them. (I thought that it was interesting that she didn’t mention the quality of food: canned fruits & vegetables, and processed food.)
What does student need to know: She stated that she needs to find out why the school lunches are unhealthy, and what ingredients are unhealthy.
Strategy: Her strategy was to do a simple keyword search using the words “unhealthy school lunch.” Her first step is going to Google websites regarding school lunches. She suggested visiting a school website to see if she could find any information about nutrition. (I liked her ideas.)
First attempt: She accidentally misspelled “unhealthy,” but then caught it when Google underlined the misspelled word in red. (She didn’t let Google auto-correct, but instead respelled it because she knew that she had made the mistake. I see older students let Google correct it for them?) She stated that she normally uses the instant searches provided to her.
Refine: She refined her search with the help of the instant search provided, and she went with “unhealthy school lunch facts.” (She thought that facts would bring her information needed for a research project.)
Tools: She didn’t use any tools on the left panel. But, her search brought up images, and they captured her attention. (The pictures took her off task, and made her giggle. I find myself doing the same thing with Google images! They seem to have some entertaining picture regarding the searched subject.)
Search details: She quickly scanned the search results page. She stayed on the first page. She verbally scanned the results picking the fifth search article. Once she opened the link, she quickly skimmed the article for relevance. She verbally stated the facts that she felt would be helpful for a research project. The details were USDA, nutritional facts, etc. She chose several articles that were .net, and .gov. (She was very focused during this stage, and she seemed very confident that she could find the information she needed with ease. In fact, she was shocked with the information that she gathered.)
Conclusion: I feel that the student did very well with the Google search. She knew far more than I thought that she would regarding search skills. I feel like Google took the guesswork out of her keyword search by their instant search feature. I would have liked to see her explore that step without their suggestions. I liked that Google did help her with the misspelled word. I also would have liked her to recognize where to find more facts about her topic, an easier starting point, perhaps? Otherwise, she exceeded my expectations; she seemed very educated about searching Google. I am excited to see her ability to gather information effortlessly at this age level.
Question Brainstormer
Topic #1
Topic # 2
Which one? (Collect information to make an informed choice.) Eg. Which 20th Century president did the most to promote civil rights?
Which after school program could promote library use?
Which upgrade in technology would support success of the school library?
How? (Understand problems and perspectives,weigh options, and propose solutions.) Eg. How should we solve the problem of water pollution in our neighborhood?
How could an after school program promote literacy in the library?
How would technology support the success of the school library?
What if? (Use the knowledge you have to pose a hypothesis and consider options.) Eg. What if the Declaration of Independence abolished slavery?
What if the school offered an after school program that promoted the library?
What if technology upgrades led to the success of the school library?
Should? (Make a moral or practical decision based on evidence.) Eg. Should we clone humans?
Should the school offer an after school program that promoted the library?
Should the school make changes in technology to encourage success in the school library?
Why? (Understand and explain relationships to get to the essence of a complicated issue.) Eg. Why do people abuse children?
Why should the school offer an after school program that promotes the library?
Why should the school makes changes in technology to encourage success in the school library?
Reflection:
I really enjoyed working on this Question Brainstormer. I found myself thinking, “why didn’t I think of this.” It was extremely helpful to really explore a topic in this manner. With repetition of rewriting the topic, I found myself getting more confident. This is a great first step in deciding if the topic chosen will work. At this point, the topic wording can be readjusted Along with the ISP model, I feel that this brainstormer activity would be extremely beneficial to the student researcher. I feel that this would serve as a time saver, and a great tool to focus the student, and get them on the right track. These tools are proving to me that they are the missing links to the students that I see researching in school.
I chose my daughter, a nine year old third grader for this assignment. She was very excited about assisting with me my studies. In fact, she had begged me to watch her “Google.” She had brought home a persuasive paper from school some time ago regarding why students shouldn’t eat school lunch. So, with that in mind, I shaped my question around that subject. She had not researched the topic previously, only gave her opinion. I thought with the opinion that she already had formed, she would be more apt to search with some basic ideas. So, the search began:
My question was: How would you find information about how unhealthy your school lunches really are?
Student already knew: She already knew that school lunches were fatty, greasy, disgusting, and there is no effort into making them. (I thought that it was interesting that she didn’t mention the quality of food: canned fruits & vegetables, and processed food.)
What does student need to know: She stated that she needs to find out why the school lunches are unhealthy, and what ingredients are unhealthy.
Strategy: Her strategy was to do a simple keyword search using the words “unhealthy school lunch.” Her first step is going to Google websites regarding school lunches. She suggested visiting a school website to see if she could find any information about nutrition. (I liked her ideas.)
First attempt: She accidentally misspelled “unhealthy,” but then caught it when Google underlined the misspelled word in red. (She didn’t let Google auto-correct, but instead respelled it because she knew that she had made the mistake. I see older students let Google correct it for them?) She stated that she normally uses the instant searches provided to her.
Refine: She refined her search with the help of the instant search provided, and she went with “unhealthy school lunch facts.” (She thought that facts would bring her information needed for a research project.)
Tools: She didn’t use any tools on the left panel. But, her search brought up images, and they captured her attention. (The pictures took her off task, and made her giggle. I find myself doing the same thing with Google images! They seem to have some entertaining picture regarding the searched subject.)
Search details: She quickly scanned the search results page. She stayed on the first page. She verbally scanned the results picking the fifth search article. Once she opened the link, she quickly skimmed the article for relevance. She verbally stated the facts that she felt would be helpful for a research project. The details were USDA, nutritional facts, etc. She chose several articles that were .net, and .gov. (She was very focused during this stage, and she seemed very confident that she could find the information she needed with ease. In fact, she was shocked with the information that she gathered.)
Conclusion: I feel that the student did very well with the Google search. She knew far more than I thought that she would regarding search skills. I feel like Google took the guesswork out of her keyword search by their instant search feature. I would have liked to see her explore that step without their suggestions. I liked that Google did help her with the misspelled word. I also would have liked her to recognize where to find more facts about her topic, an easier starting point, perhaps? Otherwise, she exceeded my expectations; she seemed very educated about searching Google. I am excited to see her ability to gather information effortlessly at this age level.
Question Brainstormer
Eg. Which 20th Century president did the most to promote civil rights?
Eg. How should we solve the problem of water pollution in our neighborhood?
Eg. What if the Declaration of Independence abolished slavery?
Eg. Should we clone humans?
Eg. Why do people abuse children?
Reflection:
I really enjoyed working on this Question Brainstormer. I found myself thinking, “why didn’t I think of this.” It was extremely helpful to really explore a topic in this manner. With repetition of rewriting the topic, I found myself getting more confident. This is a great first step in deciding if the topic chosen will work. At this point, the topic wording can be readjusted Along with the ISP model, I feel that this brainstormer activity would be extremely beneficial to the student researcher. I feel that this would serve as a time saver, and a great tool to focus the student, and get them on the right track. These tools are proving to me that they are the missing links to the students that I see researching in school.